Combating Compassion Fatigue

Nursing is an emotional, physical spiritual and hard work. It is also rewarding and most times satisfying. Nurses witness pain and suffering of others daily, resulting in increase risk for emotional stress. Nurses also work under demanding conditions related to budget constraints, and short staff resulting in increase workload. Compassion fatigue is the last stage of compassion discomfort and compassion stress. The nursing profession does not provide adequate resources to help combat this condition, like other professionals who deal with similar situations. This paper will identify signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and ways of combating them. Compassionate fatigue is an emotional, physical and spiritual exhaustion from witnessing and absorbing the problems and suffering of others. Compassionate fatigue usually affect selfless, caring and sacrificing nurses who are emotional attached to their jobs. It usually comes on gradually. It usually occurs when a caregiver attempts to give out more compassion and energy than they are getting in return. When we exhibit compassion fatigue, our natural human desire to help is significantly diminished (Frandsen, 2010) Compassion fatigue manifest itself in different ways, these include feeling of exhaustion and overwhelm with ones assignment before the start of shift, this feeling occurs frequently than before, feeling of detachment from family, friends and co-workers, not wanting to participate in social activities and always staying home. Other signs and symptoms include feelings of unappreciation at work and at home, feeling sad most of the time leading to depression, feeling of paranoia, assuming coworkers and family members are talking negative things about you, change of work style to the I don't care attitude, performing job assignments at the minimal level and always complaining about the institution policies and procedures in a negative way. These symptoms and signs can go beyond the work place to care giver personal lives, putting a strain or burden to relationships. Recognizing, managing and relieving these issues are critical in combating compassion fatigue. Factors leading to burn out can be personality characteristics, care givers that are attached to their patients emotional or type A personalities tend to suffer from compassion fatigue, work related attitudes such as high expectations for positive patient outcomes in an unrealistic setting can increase the stress level of a care giver, high patient acuity or work load, Care givers often use the term 'burn out' often, but don't care or realize the consequences off the effect until symptoms become severe. Compassion fatigue can take different forms of signs and symptoms from physical and, emotional to spiritual indications. Physical indications occurs when the care giver continues to feel fatigue most of the time, sleeplessness or insomnia despite been very tired, frequent headaches and migraines, Gastro intestinal problems including ulcers, loss of appetite and anorexia, feeling of nervousness and sometimes high blood pressure. All these symptoms occur more frequently than usual. Emotional indications of compassion fatigue include depression or feeling of sadness most of the time, the care giver does not care about the quality of work performance, not thinking logically with patient care having difficulty process information related to patient care, feeling frustrated and hopelessness most of the time with one self and job, easily becoming irritable and dread coming to work. Feeling cynicism about self, co-workers and the world, voicing negative ideas or feelings towards co-workers, Feeling of apathy is another emotional indication of compassion fatigue, not caring about the job outcome or self anymore, feeling withdrawn, frequent calling in for schedule shifts and increase tardiness. Caregivers usually don't recognize the spiritual indications of compassion care if they are not spiritual incline in their life. Spiritual indications of compassion fatigue include dealing of disappointment with God or any spiritual connection the caregiver might be practicing. The Care giver feels God is powerless for this type of situation to occur without helping, feeling of abdondment by family and friends, not practicing or participating in religious programs, including going to church or places of worship. Stop praying or reading the bible can also be an indication of spiritual disconnection in compassion fatigue. Identifying and recognizing the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and seeking help sometimes-professional assistance can aid in combating compassion fatigue. Life style changes depending on the caregiver unique circumstance can be beneficial in combating these symptoms. At work, care giver should have an attitude of caring for oneself, this include taking schedule break times, setting boundaries, not working extra shifts if asked by supervisors, recognize ones limitation when it comes to patient care, know that it is not possible you stop all the problems in healthcare, but you are going to take care of your patient reasonably. continue to involve in educational seminars at work to help stimulate the mind and be more aware and involve in new trends. Request vacations as needed to help recharge oneself. Make list of enjoyable things you like and do it, these can include massages and taking long works alone or with your spouse. Try to exercise routinely and change to a healthy diet and nutrition, and get enough sleep frequently. Meditation helps to relax the mind and connect with inner feelings. Talk to friends and family about ways on how to balance home and job life. Connect with your spirituality by attending service regularly and participate in activities, talking to your spiritual leader and reading the bible or your books of religious meaning can help boost care givers mood resulting in positive outcomes. Sometimes changing jobs to a less stressful or demanding can assist a caregiver combating compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue also known as post traumatic stress disorder is common among care givers especially nurses that are at the forefront of caring for sick and terminally ill patients regularly. Unfortunately, nurses do not have adequate support form institutions in combating this condition. Knowing and caring for one self is the primary goal in combating compassion fatigue and requesting help or assistance form other resources can be beneficial.

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(Gilmore, 2012) states that compassion fatigue is not just being overwhelmed by the demands of the job but that it is a behavioral response that usually occurs to people who are constantly helping people who are sick and suffering .Nursing is a caring profession and people are drawn to the profession because they love to care and to be compassionate .There comes a time during the care giving process that the care we give to the patients become personal and start taking a toll on our physical ,psychological and spiritual health.(Bush, 20090 states that in compassion fatigue not only do the environmental factors of work negatively affect care givers but also the physical demands of the patients such as pain and discomfort and emotional needs such as fear and anxiety..Care givers should be able to recognize the signs of compassion fatigue so that help can seek medical treatment early before the symptoms start to take a severe toll on the care giver’s health.
(Gilmore, 2012, p. 20) noted that the things that draw nurses to caring such as providing compassion and support to the patients are the very things that cause nurses to suffer from compassion fatigue .I personally feel that compassion fatigue is when we spend time with the patients ,getting to know them more and during the process we love the patients more...

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This paper will discuss the problem surrounding compassion fatigue as related to health care providers and their causes. Further discussion will include ways to recognize health care provider compassion fatigue by dialoging specific warning signs that are present before compassion fatigue sets in. Concepts regarding the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of the health care provider will be discussed including the importance of fulfilling the discussed needs. Lastly, coping strategies will be discussed including available resources that can be used by health care providers to help thwart the onset of compassion fatigue.
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As cited in an article titled “Program to combat ‘compassion fatigue’” published in 2010 within the Hospice Management Advisor, Coe states, “Compassion fatigue is a stress disorder that was identified in the 1950s, primarily among vocations that provide care for people in crisis” (“Program to combat”, 2010). Coe further related that, “Compassion fatigue is the gradual lessening of a person’s ability to provide compassion” (“Program to combat”, 2010). Coe was cited to say that, “Each nurse, doctor, or other caregiver only has so much compassion” (“Program to combat”, 2010). With the problem defined, discussion may be had to what this problems leads to. When compassion fatigue takes hold of a health care provider suffering becomes mutli-facet. Care provided by the health care......

...rendering empathetic care to patients and families. Daily, nurses are also subject to a multitude of crises, high acuity sets and increased workloads. The psychological demands of a nurse, under incomprehensible amounts of stress, has yet to be addressed in depth. Compassion fatigue is a label stuck to the caregiver who becomes victim to continued strain in meeting the needs of patients and families suffering from critical, traumatic, or end-of-life needs. Because of compassion fatigue, the emotional, mental, and physical health of the nurse is at stake. Little has been done to prevent compassion fatigue in the workplace. However, voices are beginning to advocate for nurses who are in the trenches day in and day out by initiating compassion fatigue interventions. These include mentorship programs, educating healthcare staff on compassion fatigue symptoms, and speaking to state legislators who are able to enact change in the healthcare setting. The implications of personal health, patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, and joyfulness are in jeopardy.
Keywords: compassion fatigue, empathetic care, psychological demands, compassion fatigue interventions, compassion fatigue prevention, compassion fatigue symptoms, patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, mentorship programs
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...Combating Compassion Fatigue
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Warning signs of five concepts of compassion fatigue
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1
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A PROPOSAL
PRESENTED TO THE
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
UNIVERSITY OF THE VISAYAS
CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN NURSING
MAJOR IN NURSING MANAGEMENT
BY:
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CHAPTER I
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Compassion fatigue is expressed as a form of burnout due to the intensifying emotional, physical, and psychological effects of being exposed to the stressful and often emotionally draining circumstances of our patients and coworkers while providing care. Coupled with our own stressors in our everyday lives can lead to spiritual exhaustion (Pfifferling & Gilley, 2000). Compassion fatigue may change the overall view of how the caregiver or nurse views their everyday life or society in general. Caregivers with compassion fatigue often expend a huge amount of care, energy and compassion to those they care for, but do not get enough support for themselves individually to replenish their depleted energy. It has often been said that caregivers make......

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Miranda R. Bowers
Grand Canyon University
HLT 310
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Introduction
Dictionary.com describes compassion as a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering (2012). Bush describes compassion fatigue as a complex emotion that allows caregivers to hold and sustain themselves in emotional balance while holding patients’ despair in one hand and their hopefulness in the other (2009). Being able to identify the warning signs, know the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of you as a caregiver, and knowing different coping skills and ways to deal with the stressors of juggling life’s activities can help us as caregivers to keep ourselves in balance.
Warning Signs
The symptoms of compassion fatigue are similar to those of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, only instead of the symptoms being based upon a trauma that you directly experienced, they are due to the trauma that your clients have experienced Five of the major concepts of Compassion Fatigue are as follows:
1. Having a feeling of being weak, tired and/or rundown as a result of my work as a helper.
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Kimberly Flowers
Grand Canyon University
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Introduction
Compassion represents an “acknowledgement of another’s suffering and is accompanied by the expression of a desire to ease or end that suffering.” (Van der Cingal, 2009, p. 124) This is a fundamental characteristic usually found in health care workers and nurses especially. In one twelve hour shift, a nurse’s job can change from taking vitals and administering medications to performing life saving measures or even holding a dying patient’s hand as they transition from this world to the next. And in that same few hours, a myriad of emotions can flood the soul with such force it leaves one drained and exhausted. This would be a very difficult roller coaster of emotions for anyone, but multiply that times three or four days per week for many years. It is no surprise that health care workers are extremely susceptible to emotional and physical fatigue, also known as compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is that fatigue brought on by giving so much of one’s self for an extended period of time without taking time to revive or replenish one’s own physical, emotional and spiritual needs. This paper will explore the nature and causes of five major...

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April 05, 2012
Introduction
Helping others is what health care is all about. When you have a calling or a passion to care for others and to help them, you should truly be a care giver. But the very thing that draws us to be a care taker and helping others in their time of need can be what cause us to be exhausted, disappointed, and unable to cope at times and burned out. I am talking about compassion fatigue. We will talk about what CF is, what causes it and, hopefully, how to prevent it.
Warning signs for compassion fatigue
Compassion fatigue or burn-out, trauma or empathetic strain is an occupational hazard for health care professionals. Compassion fatigue can also be called or defined as a physical, emotional or spiritual exhaustion that overcomes a caretaker and cause them not to be able to feel joy, happiness or other emotions associated with health care (Counter Compassion Fatigue with Mindfulness). There are many signs and symptoms of CF and just a few include: Feeling tired before your work even begins, lack of enjoyment in your personal life, excessive drinking, overeating, excessive spending, blaming others not to mention your physical symptoms like back pain, stomach ache and having to use your sick days (Combating compassion fatigue).
These signs can include physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, emotional symptoms and even professional symptoms (A hospital-wide approach to combating compassion fatigue). Some physical......

...Running head: COMBATING COMPASSION FATIGUE
Module 4: Combating Compassion Fatigue
Pamela Hartwell-Cooper
Grand Canyon University: HLT 310V Spirituality in Health Care
May 13, 2012
Combating Compassion Fatigue
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of Compassion Fatigue (CF) and its
effects in the lives of caregivers. A caregiver is defined by dictionary.com as an individual, such
as a physician, nurse, or social worker, who assists in the identification, prevention, or treatment
of an illness or disability (dictionary.com). Caregivers may also include family members, friends
or neighbors who voluntarily have accepted responsibility for looking after a vulnerable neighbor
or relative. For the purpose of this paper, the primary caregivers discussed will be nurses.
Most nurses chose nursing as a career because they have the desire to both help people and provide care for patients with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Having this desire puts nurses at risk for suffering from CF. CF can affect nurses in many areas such as physically, emotionally, in job performance, as well as their attitude toward the work environment, coworkers, and their patients. Nurses suffering from CF may experience emotional symptoms that include, but not limited to; poor......

...the silencing response be a form of defense mechanism for the caregiver?
Yes, it is definitely a defense mechanism because it is a shut down. The only time you shut down is when you cannot take anymore and your body forces you to stop.
3) How is silencing response related to compassion fatigue?
They are somewhat related do to the fact that they both effect the caregiver, are almost a silent disorder because it forces them to keep to themselves, and it is a direct reflection of something that occurred second party. This is how I believe they are both related.
4) What do you feel are some of the main challenges that clinicians face when coming to terms with the silencing response?
The emerging field of traumatology has many of the therapists experiencing the client’s symptoms. Just as it is not uncommon to find ex-substance abusers counseling those currently trying to break away from addictions, likewise, it is not uncommon to find those who are personally knowledgeable about trauma trying to aid others who have faced terrible events.
Clinicians and caregivers have to develop and maintain good self-care disciplines and also complete a periodic self-assessment of compassion fatigue symptoms....